Howard Comes from Behind to Capture Second Place in MEAC

Howard University Bison erupted for 35 unanswered points in the second half to come from behind and defeat the Delaware State Hornets, 41-34, in a thrilling Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) game on Nov. 17 at Greene Stadium in Washington, D.C.

With the win, the Bison (7-4 overall, 6-2 MEAC) captured second place in the conference. Delaware State was tied with Howard coming into the game, as was North Carolina Central, which lost to North Carolina A&T.

The Hornets (6-5 overall, 5-3 MEAC) drew first blood with a 32-yard field goal at the 4:36 mark of the first quarter. With Howard unable to get on track, Delaware State’s highly efficient offense made it 10-0 as senior quarterback Nick Elko engineered a nine-play, 70-yard drive capped off with an 18-yard pass to senior Justin Wilson.

Howard was able to finally get something going when freshman John Fleck nailed a 41-yard field goal to make it 10-3. But Elko came right back, finishing another drive with 3-yard toss to Wilson to give Delaware State a 17-3 halftime lead.

The Hornets upped the margin to 24-3 when Nick Williams returned a pass 79 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.

Howard finally woke up and began to change the flow of the game, as senior running back Terrence Leffall capped off a short drive with a 9-yard run to get to make it 24-10.

Following a Delaware State turnover, Howard cashed in again, going 22 yards in three plays. Sophomore Greg McGhee connected with freshman receiver Matthew Colvin on a 20-yard pass to narrow the deficit to 24-17 at 8:12 of the third quarter.

Howard got the ball back and scored again on an 18-yard McGhee pass to sophomore Stewart Hartman, tying the score at 24 going into the fourth quarter.